Refuse compactor having a pivotally arranged ram face member

ABSTRACT

A household refuse compactor of the type having a receptacle wherein refuse is compacted by a movable ram body member. The ram body member has a ram face member normally carried in firm attachment thereto for compressing refuse in the receptacle. The ram face member is adapted to be manually released from its normal compressing position on the ram body member and swung to a more accessible position to enable removal of soil therefrom.

United States Patent [191 Doepke Jan. 29, 1974 [54] REFUSE COMPACTORHAVING A 3,537,390 11/1970 Hinkel et al. 100/295 X PIVOTALLY ARRANGEDRAM FACE 3,613,568 10/1971 Bottas et a1 100/295 X MEMBER PrimaryExaminer-Peter Feldman [75] Inventor. li/oilslald G. H. Doepke,Greenfield, Assistant Examiner philip R- Coe Attorney, Agent, or Firm{Francis H. Boos. Jr. [73] Assignee: General Electric Company,

Louisville, Ky. ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Sept. 18, 1972 A household refusecompactor of the type havmg a 1 1 pp N05 289,645 receptacle whereinrefuse is compacted by a movable ram body member. The ram body memberhas a ram 52 us. Cl. 100/229 A, 100/295 face member normally carried infirm attachmem 51 Int. Cl B30b 15/06 thereto for compressing refuse inthe receptacle The [58] Field of Search 100/229 A, 295 ram face memberis adapted be manually released from its normal compressing position onthe ram body [56] References Cited member and swung to a more accessibleposition to UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1928 Menne 100/295 X enable removalof soil therefrom.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures REFUSE COMPACTOR HAVING A PIVOTALLY ARRANGEDRAM FACE MEMBER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relatesgenerally to apparatus for compacting trash and more particularlypertains to structure for compacting household refuse.

In recent years ways have been sought to improve methods and means forhousehold refuse collection and disposal. As a result of this interest arelatively new major appliance for the home, the refuse compactor, hasbeen commercially introduced. In US. Pat. No. 3,537,390, compactingapparatus is presented wherein a motor-driven vertically movable rammeans is disposed to compress household trash into a drawer-likereceptacle. The receptacle is preferably lined with a bag that can beclosed after a full load of refuse has been compacted whereupon the bagof refuse is removed from the compactor and placed at a pickup pointoutside the home. The rarn means of this compactor utilizes a ram bodymember of a box-like hollow configuration having a ram face memberfastened thereto. The ram face member has an undersurface that directlycontacts refuse during the compacting operation. Specific means by whichthe ram face member may be removably latched to the ram body member isdisclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,613,568. Permitting manual removal of theram face member from the ram body member, as taught in this patent,facilitates cleaning of soil from the surface thereof that may collectthereon during use of the apparatus.

The present invention comprehends a departure from the concept of acompletely removable ram face member in favor of a construction whereinthe ram face member remains attached to the ram body member but isadapted to be manually repositioned whereby the machine owner may moreeasily clean the ram face member and then quickly return it to theoperative compacting position on the ram body member. In the returningaction the hinge also acts as a guide or pilot, thereby facilitating thepositioning of the ram face to the ram body.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By this invention a refuse compactor isprovided having a refuse receptacle and a ram body member adapted toadvance into the receptacle for compacting refuse therein and to retractfrom the receptacle to permit loading of more refuse therein forcompacting. A ram face member is carried on the ram body member and hasa surface portion for contacting refuse during compacting. The ram facemember is pivotally attached to the ram body whereby it can beselectively swung from its refuse contacting position to a cleaningposition while remaining attached to the ram body. The structureincludes releasable means for holding the ram face member firmly to theram body member during the compacting operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of amajor appliance cabinet housing compacting apparatus in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective fragmentary view of ram means structure for theapparatus first shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of latch means first shownin FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of alternative ram meansstructure for refuse compacting apparatus in accordance with the presentinvention; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the structure first shown inFIG. 4 but here shown positioned in accordance with the use of theapparatus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODI- MENTS In FIG. 1there is shown a refuse compactor cabinet 10 housing a slidableremovable receptacle in the form of a drawer 11. The drawer 11 has afront panel constituting a cabinet closure member 12. Above the closuremember 12 is an upper access panel 13 behind which is located verticallyremovable ram means (not shown in detail) including a box-like ram bodymember 14 having an open front side 15. A ram face member or ram cover16 is firmly attached on the under side of the ram body member 14whereby, when the ram is caused to move downwardly into the receptacleto compress refuse therein, the undersurface or flat surface portion 17of the ram face member 16 contacts and presses against the refuse.

As shown most clearly in FIG. 2, the ram means structure includes aflexible wiper 18 that extends outwardly around the periphery of the ramface member. A wiper of this general type is disclosed in theaforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,568. Here the wiper 18 is providedwith a substantially large opening 19 near one end thereof to facilitateits being stretched over the ram body into the position shown in FIG. 2.The wiper 18 is also provided with a central opening to facilitate theextension of a latch member therethrough as hereafter described.

The ram face member 16 has a shallow box shape with a flat, normallydownwardly facing surface portion. The ram face member is pivotallyjoined to the front edge of the ram body member 14 by means of a hinge23. The hinge 23 permits the ram face member to be swung approximatelyfrom an operative compressing position, as shown in FIG. 1, to acleaning position as shown in FIG. 2. In its operative position, the ramface member 16 is held firmly to the ram body by releasable latch meanswhich may be a finger-like element 24 firmly fastened in a centralposition within the ram face member whereby it projects outwardlytherefrom as shown in FIG. 2. In the presently preferred form, thelatching element 24 is fonned from a piece of spring steel and has ahump or ledge portion 25 intermediate its length. The latching member,or element, is disposed to extend through an opening 27 in the bottom ofthe ram body member 14 when the ram face member 16 is in the operativeposition.

As shown in FIG. 3, the latch element 24 is formed to deflect forwardlyrelative to the front of the cabinet structure when the ledge portion 25thereof strikes the undersurface of the ram body members bottom at theperiphery of the opening 27. Such deflection permits the latch member tomove through the opening 27 after which it springs back to its normalposition so that the ledge portion 25 serves as a detent means to holdthe ram face cover firmly in the operative compressing position on theram body member. The latch means may be selectively released by applyingmanual force to the upper end 30 of the latch element such that theelement is deflected to disengage the ledge portion 25 and permit thelatch element to slip downwardly through the opening 27.

When the owner of the refuse compactor believes it is desirable to cleanthe ram face member 16 and/or the wiper member 18, the drawer 11 may beentirely removed from the cabinet 10. In accordance with the compactorsof the general type, removal of the receptacle drawer will serve to openat least one safety interlock switch (not shown) whereby the compactingmechanism thereof is inoperable until such time that the drawer isreplaced. With the drawer ll removed from the cabinet 10 the owner maythen obtain access to the upper portion of the cabinet by opening theupper access panel 13. The access panel 13 is preferably hinged alongone edge thereof so that it can be swung outwardly. The latch member 24shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 may then be manipulated as heretofore describedto release the ram face member 16 such that it will swing downwardly onthe hinge 23. This action places the outer surface of the ram facemember 16 at approximately the normal disposition of the closure member12. Since the receptacle drawer 11 is out of the cabinet, the compactingmechanism is rendered inoperative as heretofore described wherebyinadvertent operation will not cause damage to the ram face member whileit is in its cleaning position. Once the cleaning of the surface portionof the ram face member 16 and- /or wiper member 18 is completed it canbe manually swung back to its normal operative position on the ram bodymember 14. The latching element 24, as shown in FIG. 3, is configured toguide itself through the opening 27 and latch to the ram body member 14.Then the receptacle 11 can be returned to its position within thecabinet 10 whereby the compactor is again ready to be used to compactrefuse in the receptacle.

In FIGS. 4 and an alternative embodiment for a connecting arrangementbetween the ram face member 16 and the ram body member 14 is illustratedwhich may utilize a latch means 32 as generally disclosed in theaforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,568. The latch assembly itself is ofa general purpose known type as will be seen by reference to U.S. Pat.No. 3,208,781. This embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, includes theprovision of spaced-apart parallel elongated slots 33 in the bottom wallof the ram body member 14 to accommodate respective hanger elements 34that extend therethrough. The hanger elements are preferably flexibleplastic members. Each of the hanger elements has a knob 35 at the upperend thereof to prevent the element from sliding outwardly through itsaccommodating slot 33 and is preferably pivotally connected at one endto the inside of the ram face member 16. In this embodiment the ram facemember 16 may be conveniently cleaned by first removing the receptacle11 and the closure member 12 from the cabinet whereby the latch 32 canbe manipulated to allow the ram face member 16 to drop downwardly fromthe ram body member 14. The ram face member 16 may then be slidforwardly and swung upwardly through the open front side of the cabinet10, whereby it may be made to assume a cleaning position relative to theram body member 14 substantially as shown in FIG. 5. After the cleaningoperation the ram face member 16 may be swung back into its operativeposition whereby upwardly pro- 10 jecting locator pin portions 36 on theram face member 16 will engage accommodating holes 37 in the bottom wallof the ram body member 14 to assure proper alignment of the parts.Re-engagement of the latch 32 then holds the ram face member 16 in theoperative compacting position on the ram body member 14.

I claim:

1. A refuse compactor having a refuse receptacle, a ram body memberadapted to advance into the receptacle for compacting refuse and towithdraw from the receptacle to permit loading of refuse therein, a ramface member pivotally mounted on the ram body member for contactingrefuse during compacting, the ram face member having means therewith forholding it substantially firmly attached to the ram body member andmeans for releasing the ram face member whereby it is allowed to pivoton the ram body member to permit cleaning.

2. The refuse compactor of claim 1 wherein the ram face member is hingedto the ram body member whereby the ram face member may be manually swungfrom the refuse contacting position at least to a second cleaningposition.

3. The refuse compactor of claim 1 further including manuallyunlatchable means for holding the ram face member in the refusecontacting position on the ram body member.

4. The refuse compactor of claim 1 further including manually operablelatch means for holding the ram face member in the refuse contactingposition and wherein the ram body member has a hollow configuration withat least one open side, and the latch means being accessible from withinthe ram body through the open side.

5. A refuse compactor comprising a refuse holder, a vertically movableram body member mounted above the holder for compacting refuse in theholder, a ram face member pivotally mounted on the ram body member witha surface portion projecting from the ram body member for compressiblecompacting refuse in the holder, the holder being removable from beneaththe ram face member, the ram face member being pivotally movablemanually relative to the ram body member when the holder is removed topermit cleaning.

k I i G

1. A refuse compactor having a refuse receptacle, a ram body memberadapted to advance into the receptacle for compacting refuse and towithdraw from the receptacle to permit loading of refuse therein, a ramface member pivotally mounted on the ram body member for contactingrefuse during compacting, the ram face member having means therewith forholding it substantially firmly attached to the ram body member andmeans for releasing the ram face member whereby it is allowed to pivoton the ram body member to permit cleaning.
 2. The refuse compactor ofclaim 1 wherein the ram face member is hinged to the ram body memberwhereby the ram face member may be manually swung from the refusecontacting position at least 90* to a second cleaning position.
 3. Therefuse compactor of claim 1 further including manually unlatchable meansfor holding the ram face member in the refuse contacting position on theram body member.
 4. The refuse compActor of claim 1 further includingmanually operable latch means for holding the ram face member in therefuse contacting position and wherein the ram body member has a hollowconfiguration with at least one open side, and the latch means beingaccessible from within the ram body through the open side.
 5. A refusecompactor comprising a refuse holder, a vertically movable ram bodymember mounted above the holder for compacting refuse in the holder, aram face member pivotally mounted on the ram body member with a surfaceportion projecting from the ram body member for compressible compactingrefuse in the holder, the holder being removable from beneath the ramface member, the ram face member being pivotally movable manuallyrelative to the ram body member when the holder is removed to permitcleaning.